Reporters Dave Berman, J.D. Gallop and Rick Neale, led by watchdog editor Robert Block, spent months examining a policy change by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office to no longer routinely use outside investigators when deputies shoot their guns.

It is an important and complex issue on many levels, and FLORIDA TODAY looked at not only what is happening in Brevard, but also – for perspective and context – around the region, state and beyond.

We have been examining the policy change by the sheriff’s office since last year, when it was reported that the sheriff would bring FDLE in to investigate a deputy-involved shooting, as had been the norm and policy.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey called to say that was wrong, that the policy had changed.

In 2016, a man was shot by off-duty Deputy Yousef Hafza. Ivey called in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate. That resulted in Hafza’s arrest on a charge of second-degree murder with a firearm. Hafza is awaiting trial.

The sheriff has said repeatedly and vehemently that the deputy’s arrest in that case had nothing to do with the policy change and that he used FDLE twice after the Hafza case.

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Yousef Hafza.(Photo: FLORIDA TODAY file)

Most importantly, he says, the FDLE does not do a truly independent investigation, and that the most critical evidence in the investigation – facts determined at the scene of the of incident – are developed by BCSO. Further, cutbacks at FDLE make it difficult for that agency to work independently of BCSO and that the sheriff’s investigation is reviewed at the State Attorney’s Office, he says.

If what the sheriff says is true, Florida has an issue that is ready to blow up in our collective faces and we better address it now before that happens. At a time when public skepticism might be at an all-time high in America, eliminating outside and independent review of police-involved shootings is a bad idea.

There is an old saying in journalism taught to me by a veteran reporter in my younger days: “If your mother says she loves you, kid, check it out.” Well, these days, it might be wise to get someone outside the family to look into the alleged maternal love, too.

Regardless of exactly when Ivey changed the policy, or even why he did it, the fact is the BCSO used to turn to outside investigators routinely and now it does not. And that change happened after an off-duty deputy was arrested in a case in which the sheriff first hinted at the deputy’s innocence, telling a news conference that Hafza may have had no choice in the shooting.

The fact is he used to think it was a good idea to routinely use outside investigators and now he doesn’t.

The fact is he used to say ensuring complete transparency in cases involving members of his own department required “FDLE to conduct an independent investigation and present their findings to the state attorney's office for a full review of the facts."

Now he says, “We police our own.”

Sadly, he might be doing the right thing if, as the sheriff suggests, FDLE is not capable of true independent investigations.

This is an issue that is bigger than Brevard County. There is no state law requiring independent review of police-involved shootings and only about half of the 67 sheriffs’ offices in Florida have agreements with the FDLE to assist them in deputy-involved shootings.

Perhaps there should be such a law, and the Legislature should properly fund a state investigatory unit for police-involved shootings. That would provide protection to suspects and law enforcement officers alike.

Citizens deserve to know that when an officer is required to use a weapon and someone is shot there will be no doubt about an independent review. Officers deserve to know there will never be any question about whether they did the right thing.

Let’s look deeper at this. If cuts to the FDLE have made it impossible for true independent reviews, let’s fix that and let’s fix it now.

Gabordi is executive editor at FLORIDA TODAY. His direct dial number is 321-242-3607 and cell phone is 850-591-2229. He is @bgabordi on Twitter and /bgabordi on Facebook. You can also find him on LinkedIn. His email address is bgabordi@floridatoday.com.